An extra ingredient kicks this puppy chow recipe up a notch!

Whether you call this a puppy chow recipe or a muddy buddy recipe, I can tell you that you’ll call it addictively delicious! Here in the Midwest, I hear it called puppy chow most often, so that’s what I’m going with. It’s one of the easiest and scrumptious recipes I make.

You can’t go wrong combining peanut butter and chocolate in any capacity, but not every puppy chow recipe is created equal. I’ve tried multiple ones through the years and have finally found the best recipe. When I made puppy chow for this post, I made a half batch since my husband doesn’t like it. (I know. He’s crazy! But he doesn’t like semi-sweet chocolate.) The very next day, I made a second half batch because we ran out. It’s just so good and hard to resist.

I’ve always liked puppy chow, but for whatever reason, it is what I’ve craved most throughout quarantine time with COVID. The good news is I’ve made it enough now to know how to best tweak it and make it yummy. The bad news is that I can’t make it too often or I’d be in a sugar coma. 🙂

The ingredients

The ingredients are important because the wrong thing changes the taste. As you can tell from my ingredient photo, though, brands don’t matter so much. You want to make sure of a couple of things. First, use smooth peanut butter for this puppy chow recipe. Second, use rice squares instead of corn squares. I’ve used both and the rice squares taste better for this!

Not all puppy chow recipes use butter but I find it coats better and tastes better by using a bit of it. I use salted butter, but if you have unsalted, I think it’d be just fine, too, since you get some saltiness from the peanut butter as well.

Finally, my extra ingredient that doesn’t show up too often in muddy buddy recipes is vanilla extract. Trust me on this. You use just a bit and it will kick your flavors up a notch!

Preparing the puppy chow

One of the things I love most about this puppy chow recipe is that it’s quick to make and you can use the microwave. This means even my kids can make it or help me make it. I love that!

Start with putting your butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. I use a big glass bowl so I can rinse it and put it in the dishwasher when I’m finished.

Put the bowl in the microwave and heat for 45 second and then stir. Remember that chocolate holds its shape as it melts, so you have to stir to tell how melted it is.

Continue heating in your microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each time until it’s completed melted and runny like the photo below. Usually mine is ready after the first 30-second round.

When it’s nice and runny, stir in the vanilla extract. Once it’s all combined, it’s time to gently fold in the rice cereal squares. For a half batch, I use about 5-1/2 cups of cereal. You want the cereal to be well coated but not too thickly covered.

Once the cereal has a nice coating of the chocolate and peanut butter mixture, it’s time to covered it in powdered sugar. I place powdered sugar in a gallon-sized zip-top bag and then pour the prepared mix on top of it. However, I do this in batches as well using about 1/2 cup per three cups of cereal mix. So for a half batch, I do this twice. For a full batch, it takes four times.

The zip-top bag works great for this puppy chow recipe shakedown. Once it gets too messy, it may not re-zip, but just fold the top over tightly and you’re good to go. Shake it to cover the cereal in powdered sugar. Carefully break apart clumps from the outside and make sure all the pieces are coated in powdered sugar.

Get your snack on!

That’s it! Your puppy chow is ready to munch on. Place it in an airtight container and keep it covered, but it doesn’t have to be refrigerated. For us, containers with lids work better than using a zip-top bag which can be harder to seal well once it gets powdered sugar in the track.

Stored well, it should last for up to a week. Well, it should stay fresh for up to a week, but I’m not sure it will ever last that long. It’s too yummy. Puppy chow also makes a great gift for friends and family. I have often included it in my holiday goodies.

Looking for more easy, microwave desserts? Check out these:

An appetizer, side or snack you can make in minutes!

My daughter is more adventurous in the kitchen than I am. I tend to go by recipes. She tends to use recipes and get creative as well. I love her creations and willingness to try things. (She’s made some delicious microwave fudge recipes this way!) Over the summer, she found a picture of meatball pockets that didn’t have a recipe with it. So, she came up with it on her own. The results were this super easy, yummy meatball pocket recipe you can make in minutes!

These meatball pockets can be a snack, appetizer or side. We used it as a side dish to go along with Spaghetti-Os. (I know. We are super fancy like that!) I also like that even my 8-year-old could easily help us with this recipe.

I also love that this meatball pocket recipe is only two ingredients: canned crescent rolls and frozen meatballs. You can serve them with pizza or marinara sauce. (But I can also tell you that they taste good dipped in Spaghetti-Os!)

How to make the meatball pockets

I chose homestyle meatballs for this recipe. My family isn’t big on anything spicy, so these were great for us. They were flavorful without being spicy or peppery. You can pick meatballs based on your family’s tastes. You can also use homemade meatballs if you would rather.

No matter what kind of meatball you use, they need to be thawed. If you are using fresh, homemade ones, you’re good to go. If you are using frozen ones, pop 16 of them in the microwave on thaw or 50% power to get them to about room temperature.

Preheat your oven according to the directions on the crescent roll package.

While the meatballs are thawing and oven is preheating, open the crescent rolls. (I cannot open canned crescent rolls. It scares me way too much, so my husband or 8-year-old son open them!) Unroll the sheets and gently break the rolls apart at the perforation into their triangle shape.

Then use a sharp knife to cut the triangles in half, so you have halves of the usual crescent roll size. (NOTE: You can make these with whole crescent rolls if you want them to be bigger or more bread-y. We tried both ways and like them either way.)

Next, plop a meatball in the center of the halved crescent triangle and fold the crescent roll dough around the meatball. Pinch it closed as much as possible.

When they are enclosed in dough, place the meatball pockets a baking sheet. I put parchment paper on my baking sheets to make for easier clean-up. If you don’t use parchment paper, follow the directions on the crescent rolls. The crescent rolls I used said they should be baked on ungreased baking sheets. Space the meatball pockets a couple of inches apart.

Place them in your preheated oven and bake them for 9 to 12 minutes until the crescent roll dough has become golden brown and they are heated through.

Serve the meatball pockets warm with marinara or pizza sauce for dipping, if desired. You end up with 16 meatball pockets per can of crescent rolls. Refrigerate any leftovers and reheat in the microwave.

With 5 ingredients and no cooking needed, you’ll fall in love with this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe!

A few weeks ago, my daughter wanted to try making a new recipe. We tried an ice cream based recipe that used chocolate sandwich cookies and mint to make a mint chocolate cake. It was good. But the topping was what we loved the most. It was like a mousse. So that inspired us to do some tweaking and develop this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe. As a lifelong lover of all things mint and chocolate, I have fallen in love with this mousse!

But the flavor isn’t all I love about this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe. I also like that only uses five ingredients and is easy to whip up. In fact, you can make it ahead of time for guests, pop it in the fridge and be ready to go. If you want a less creamy and airy texture, you can stick it in the freezer. But, I love the creamy, airy texture of mousse!

This would also work great as a pie if you pile the mousse on top of a chocolate cookie crumb crust!

Ingredients

Seriously, this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe only needs five ingredients that are pretty basic.

You need one 7-ounce jar of marshmallow creme, one 16-ounce container of heavy whipping cream, 1/4-cup of milk, 1/2 teaspoon of mint or peppermint extract and 3/4- to 1-cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. If you want to color your mint chocolate chip mousse, you also need a few drops of green food coloring, but that’s completely optional.

And if you are more of a cookie fan than chocolate chips, you can easily replace the mini chocolate chips for crushed chocolate sandwich cookies. Milk chocolate chips would be a bit rich, so if you go that route, use less of them. You could try dark chocolate as well (that’s what I would love but my family not so much!). Of course, if chocolate isn’t your thing, just skip the chocolate all together and enjoy a mint mousse!

Directions

Pour your heavy whipping cream into a mixer bowl. You can use a stand mixer or a handheld mixer. Use the whisk attachment(s) for the mixer and beat the whipping cream for a few minutes until soft peaks form. Start with a lower level of mixing and gradually increase it as the whipping cream begins to thicken. (If you go too fast too soon, the liquid will splatter out of the bowl.) The whipping cream should look like this:

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, marshmallow cream and mint extract. If you’re going to use food coloring this is the best time to put it in. (I completely forgot to put it in until the next step. So if you forget this, it will work in the step next as well. However, you will end up needing to use more food coloring if you wait until the next step.)

Stir the milk, marshmallow cream, mint extract and optional food coloring together well but carefully so as not to splash out of the bowl. The mixture should be less sticky and look like this:

Next gently fold the whipped cream into the bowl with the marshmallow cream mixture.

The mousse is all ready for mix-ins. I suggest mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use the chocolate you prefer or even skip the chocolate all together if you’d rather. I started with 3/4-cup of the mini chips and then added about another 1/4 cup. My kids say I should use less chocolate next time, so the 3/4-cup of mini chocolate chips is probably best. But, if you’re a chocolate lover like I am, feel free to add a full cup or even more. I didn’t think there was any issue with the amount of chocolate chips!

Whatever you decide to mix in, do so gently like you folded in the whipped cream to keep the mousse light and airy.

Once everything is mixed in, the mint chocolate chip mousse is ready! I let mine hang out in the fridge for about an hour before we ate it, but you can eat it right away. Definitely store leftovers covered in the refrigerator. If you want a firmer consistency for your mint chocolate chip mousse, then put it in the freezer.

Are you looking for other no-bake, easy and delicious dessert recipes? Check out these!

Chocolate, mint chocolate, brownie batter, cherry cordial and toffee bar chocolate fudge easily made in your microwave!

A few weeks ago, my daughter wanted something chocolate, but we were out of chocolate in our house. Sad state of affairs that it was, we decided to try a chocolate microwave fudge recipe. It turned out so well that we’ve made it multiple times since then.

And my daughter, unlike me, likes to experiment with recipes. I tend to follow the recipe to the letter and change very little about it. But, my daughter did some experimenting and I’m so glad she did. We ended up with an easy microwave fudge recipe that you can make four different ways. It’s so easy and delicious. All of it starts with the basic chocolate fudge.

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here.

Microwave chocolate fudge recipe

Prep your 8×8-inch baking dish. We usually use our glass baking dish for this recipe because it’s dishwasher safe. If your pan is a non-stick dish, you don’t need to do anything to it. Otherwise, give your pan a light coating of non-stick cooking spray to keep the fudge from sticking.

Set your dish aside and in a microwave-safe bowl, mix together 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2-cup of cocoa powder, 1/4 cup of milk and 1 stick of butter cut into small pieces. We found out that Crisco shortening also works for this recipe in a pinch, which is why the “butter” in this photo looks so white!

Microwave the mixture for 2 to 4 minutes until the butter is melted. It should look something like this:

Next, stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Pour the fudge into your prepared baking dish.

Let it chill in the refrigerator for an hour or speed up the process by using the freezer for about 15 minutes. Once it is set, it’s ready to cut and serve. It doesn’t have to be chilled again.

Microwave mint chocolate fudge recipe

The first variation on this microwave fudge recipe is mint, because nothing goes together better than mint and chocolate (in my opinion!).

All you do is switch out the vanilla for 1 teaspoon of mint extract. Note that it is half the amount of vanilla, because mint is a stronger flavor.

Brownie batter fudge recipe

Again, after microwaving is when you make a simple switch for the brownie batter fudge recipe. This was the first variation my daughter made, and I loved it. For the brownie batter fudge, add the 2 teaspoons of vanilla extra PLUS 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup (like the kind you put over ice cream).

Cherry cordial fudge recipe

This was the newest concoction and, dare I say, my absolute favorite. Even my parents, who don’t particularly like chocolate, loved this version. My husband, who is a particular eater loved it as well. It truly tastes like a cherry cordial (aka chocolate-covered cherry).

After microwaving your ingredients, stir in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons of cherry juice. We used juice from a jar of maraschino cherries.

Toffee bar chocolate fudge recipe

This is one of the easiest variations to make. I had some toffee bits left from making my chewy toffee cookies, so my daughter decided to use them with fudge. She topped the original chocolate fudge with them and applied them liberally. It gave the fudge a bit of a crunch with the toffee flavor and was delicious. You might think of your favorite chocolate and toffee candy bar while you eat it — I did!

With two different kinds of chocolate and optional Cadbury eggs, this cookie recipe will satisfy your sweet tooth!

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here. 

One of my favorite desserts to make — and eat! — is cookies. I’ve shared a couple of family favorite cookie recipes before like my peanut butter cookie recipe and my toffee chip cookie recipe. This white and milk chocolate chip cookie recipe, though, is perfect for springtime. I first made it eight years ago. Then I sort of forgot about it. I made it again this year and I’m trying to not eat my weight in these cookies!

I also LOVE Cadbury eggs. And I know. People either love or loathe them. I’m 100% in the love category. Their creamy goodness makes me happy. I’ve haven’t been as much into the mini, hard-shelled Cadbury eggs, though. But this recipe has changed that. You can totally make the recipe without the Cadbury eggs to enjoy it year-round. However, the Cadbury mini eggs make a nice addition to the cookie. (Pick some up on sale after Easter and toss them in your freezer to enjoy them year-round!)

The other nice thing about this white and milk chocolate chip cookie recipe is that it makes about 8-9 dozen cookies, which is double with a “normal” batch of cookie dough makes. In fact, since I wasn’t feeding a huge crowd, I baked out half the dough and put the other half in a flat gallon size zip-top storage bag in my freezer to bake later.

Dealing with the candy

If you’re going to use the mini Cadbury eggs with the crunchy candy shell, start there. You also opt for another milk or white choclate-ly candy if you find yourself with a lot of something else. Just follow the same steps. (If you’re not using any candy, skip this step and move on to the dough.) The recipe calls for one 10-ounce package, which looks like this:

You need to crush or rough chop the candy. I put it in a zip-top bag and hit it with my rolling pin. You can also use a spoon. My 8-year-old son helped me and quite enjoyed hitting and banging around in the kitchen.

You want the candy in small pieces, but not totally crushed. It should look something like this:

Moving on to the dough

Next, turn your oven on to 350-degrees to preheat. If you’re using candy set it aside for now. It’s time to get the dough going. Start with two sticks (1 cup) of slightly softened butter or margarine. I used butter this time but used margarine before and both work just fine. You want them ever-so-slightly soft like this:

Put the softened butter into your mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer if you’re using one. Add in both the white and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. I used my stand mixer and started at “stir” until they were combined, then I worked my way up to level 6. After about 2 to 3 minutes, the mixture looked like this:

Next, mix in each egg one at a time and then add the vanilla. Get a second mixing bowl and stir together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder until they are combined. Slowly add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and let your dough come together until everything is incorporated. It should thicken up and look like this:

Now it’s time to stir in the goodies. I stir in the white chocolate and milk chocolate chips first. Then I add the Cadbury mini egg pieces. If you are using other candy, stir it in last like the Cadbury eggs. If you are using only the chips, then do those. You can add extra white or milk chocolate chips if you’d like. One of my favorite things with this cookie recipe is that it has so many chips that each bite ends up with at least a chip of some sort.

Baking the cookies

Now you’re ready to start baking. I use parchment paper on my cookie sheets because it makes clean-up way easier and the cookies never, ever stick to the pan. I highly recommend it! No matter what, you want to form the dough into approximately 1-inch balls. I used a cookie scoop for mine because it is faster and easier. Place the dough balls on your cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies in your preheated to 350-degree oven for 10 minutes until the edges are slightly browned. Take them out of the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about a minute before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Do your best to let them cool enough that they won’t burn your mouth before enjoying them!

Store them in an airtight container. I use gallon-sized zip-top bags. These white and milk chocolate chip cookies stay fresh for about a week.

Crispy, delicious quesadillas made in your oven

Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

I love easy recipes that are customizable for what my family likes. I’ve got a couple of particular eaters in my house. This easy baked quesadilla recipe fits that category.

Before we had kiddos, I came up with this recipe for my husband and me and I continue to make it now. This recipe is pretty straightforward and simple but you can switch it up to include whatever your family likes.

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees (F) and prepare your baking sheets. You can spray them with non-stick cooking spray or line them with sheets parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

I prefer to line my baking sheets for easier clean-up. I also like the parchment paper because then I can use a marker to write the first initial beside the quesadilla of who it belongs to since they are all different in some way.

Once you’re all set up then get out your tortillas. I use two tortillas per quesadilla, but you could also use one quesadilla folded in half.

Tortillas are where the baked quesadilla recipe starts. You could use wheat tortillas. I used flour. And you can pick the size. I made smaller soft taco-sized tortillas for my son’s quesadillas. I used the larger burrito-sized tortillas for my husband, daughter and me.

To help them crisp up nicely in the oven, I spritz one side of each tortilla with margarine spray. You can also use melted butter and your spray bottle to spritz the shells or lightly brush it on. I do around 10 squirts for the large burrito-sized shells. I spray the bottom first and then spray the top shell after I place it on top when the filling is in.

With the buttered side face down onto the cooking sheet, put the filling in your quesadillas. Get creative with what your family likes. My son’s was just cheese. My husband’s had bacon and onion with a small amount of cheese.

My daughter and I opted for a chicken bacon ranch version. It was so incredibly good. To make it easier, I used precooked refrigerated chicken, precooked bacon cooked to a crisp in the microwave, ranch dressing, tomato, onion and roughly chopped baby spinach.

Put the quesadillas into the preheated oven and bake them for 6 minutes. Pull them out and flip them over. Put them back in the oven for another 6 minutes. Check and see if they are golden brown around the edges. If so, they are finished. If not, leave them in there and check again in 2 minutes.

Use a pizza cutter (or sharp knife) to slice the quesadillas and serve them warm. We always eat sour cream with ours, because our family LOVES sour cream!

This butterscotch haystacks recipe is as easy as it gets!

I’m a fan of simple recipes, and this butterscotch haystacks recipe is one of the most simple ones I make! With only two ingredients and no oven or stove required, they come together quickly and easily. They make a great addition to holiday baking or any time of year.

Of all the sweet treats I make, this is one of my husband’s very favorites. He isn’t a big chocolate fan, but he loves butterscotch. They’re a crunchy butterscotch treat. You don’t have to tell anyone how easy they are to make unless you want to!

You may notice in the photo above that I have both chow mein noodles and Asian style crunchy noodles. Either one works for the butterscotch haystacks recipe. You can mix them together, which is what I did this time. The chow mein noodles are a bit bigger.

Pour the butterscotch chips into a microwaveable bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals stirring each time until melted. Then pour in your chow mein and/or crunchy noodles and stir gently until they are all covered in butterscotch.

And that’s it. You can add in some peanuts if you want, but I always keep this butterscotch haystack recipe simple with just these two ingredients. I stir in the noodles in intervals to make sure they are all covered with a good amount of butterscotch.

Dole them out with in heaping tablespoons onto parchment or wax paper and let them cool. Store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh and yummy for days — if they’ll last that long without getting eaten!

Looking for more sweet recipes? Check out these:

Easy peanut butter cookies recipe

The BEST toffee cookies recipe

4-ingredient whipped pudding pie

The one hack you need to make box mix brownies so fudgy delicious

Prepare for carb heaven with these delectable yeast rolls!

Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

There is nothing as good as a soft, scrumptious, warm yeast roll! I started trying to find a good yeast roll recipe back in 2013 after I’d gotten a stand mixer for Christmas 2012. I found a few OK recipes and a couple of good ones.

Then I asked my friend, Kayla, who is a professional baker, what recipe she uses. I tried it and her yeast roll recipe has become my go-to. In fact, I often double this yeast roll recipe for family gatherings and they never go to waste!

Proof the yeast

Like most yeast recipes, you start with proofing the yeast. Combine the yeast, sugar and water. I used quick rise yeast, which says the best temperature is between 110- and 115-degrees. I really do get out my thermometer and check the temperature of the water before adding it into the yeast.

Once the yeast, sugar and water are in your mixing bowl, let it set until it is all bubbly and poofy, usually 6-9 minutes. (Mine took 8.) My doubled-recipe looked like this:

Add more ingredients

Once the yeast is proofed, add the egg, milk and butter. I heat my milk a bit it doesn’t go in cold. I also softened my butter and tried to make sure my egg was pretty near room temperature.

Slowly add in the flour and mix on low so it won’t fly up and make a mess. For my doubled yeast roll recipe, I ended up using 6 cups of flour. Depending on where you live and the humidity and all that jazz, you may not need as much.

For a single recipe, use 2-1/2 to 3 cups. For doubled, use 5 to 6. After I got to 5 cups, I added in a 1/4 cup, a 1/2 cup and then another 1/4 cup, mixing well after each time to make sure that I wasn’t getting the dough too stiff or dry. You want it to be nice and soft but not liquid-y. This dough is a little sticky.

Once you have in all the ingredients, it’s time to mix with the dough hook on your mixer. Mix for about 5 minutes on speed 8 (basically medium-high speed). Add in the salt. (If you add the salt sooner, it will kill the yeast.)

Mix for another 2 minutes. Once the dough starts gathering around the hook and pulling away from the bowl, then it is finished. It looks like this:

Let it rise

Now it’s time to rise. Cover your bowl and let it sit somewhere warm. I use Glad Press ‘N Seal to cover mine.

I let mine sit in my kitchen for about 40 minutes to rise. Here is what it looked like when I removed the cover:

Knead, form and rise again

Next is time for some kneading. I spread out a sheet of wax paper on my kitchen counter and douse with some flour. Place the dough on your prepared surface and sprinkle some flour on top as well. Knead it lightly for a couple of minutes.

After kneading, cut and roll the dough into balls and place them in 9×13 pans sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. You can also use muffin tins by placing two small balls in the bottom of each muffin cup.

Once the rolls are formed, they need to rise again. I usually do my rising in the oven. I turn my oven on to 200-degrees. Once it is preheated, I turn it off and put the rolls in for about 10-15 minutes.

When they’re risen and ready to bake, they’ll look something like this:

Bake the yeast rolls for 12 to 18 minutes at 400-degrees.

Make your butter

When the yeast rolls are almost finished, I usually prep butter to brush over their tops. For the doubled recipe, I used an entire stick, but for a single batch, a half a stick of butter or margarine would work fine. I like to mix some honey and cinnamon into mine for a touch of sweetness. I use about a tablespoon of honey and a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a whole stick of butter.

Here is what mine looked like before I melted it on low power in the microwave:

When the rolls are golden, pull them out and brush with the honey and cinnamon butter, if you’d like. Remove them from the pan once they have cooled about 5 minutes. They travel well and reheat well. The delicious results of this yeast roll recipe will make it your go-to for holiday dinners and any other time as well!

Looking for more bread recipes? Check out these:

Bacon ranch cheese bread

The only pumpkin bread recipe you need

Protein-packed banana bread recipe

The peanut butter cookies recipe your family will love!

Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

I’m the cookie maker in my family. Each Christmas season, I am the one in charge of making the cookies for our family. I’ve tried various recipes for different types of cookies. Some are great; others not so much. This peanut butter cookies recipe is one that has been around for a couple of decades because it is so easy and delicious!

After my toffee cookies, these peanut butter cookies are my most requested cookies from my family. Just like with my toffee cookies, the state of the butter when making the cookie dough makes all the difference.

I will also give you a heads up that this is a smaller cookie recipe that makes about 2 dozen cookies. Usually I double it when we are sharing these cookies with others.

Be sure to plan just a bit ahead with this peanut butter cookies recipe because the dough needs to chill in the refrigerator at least an hour before baking. (You can bake them without the chill time, they will just be a bit stickier as you are trying to shape them into balls and flatten them.)

Like with most cookie recipes, this one begins with creaming the sugars and butter. My family likes these peanut butter cookies a bit on the flat side that are soft inside with a slight crunch on the outside. In order to get that consistency, the butter should be almost all melted, instead of just softened. If you like thicker, fluffier cookies, then only soften your butter instead.

Once your butter is ready, add in the sugar and brown sugar. Mix the butter and sugars together until well combined (creamed). You can do this by hand or with a mixer.

When it is all combined, stir in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Stir or beat until smooth. For measuring the peanut butter, my favorite tool is a cylindrical measuring cup because then you can just push out the peanut butter and not have to try and get it out of your regular measuring cup or scoop.

In a separate bowl combine your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and baking powder. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.

Stick the dough in the fridge and let it chill for at least one hour. (I have chilled it overnight and even frozen this dough and thawed it a bit as well.) After it’s chilled, the dough will look something like this:

Shape the chilled peanut butter cookie dough into about 1-inch balls. Put them a couple inched apart on an un-greased baking sheet. I use parchment paper because it makes for easy clean-up!

Flatten each ball by crisscrossing the cookie with the tines of a fork that have been dipped in sugar.

Bake at 325-degrees for 10-12 minutes until the peanut butter cookies are a bit darker and set.

Let them cool for 1-2 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. The peanut butter cookies will come out a bit “poofy” and settle after just a minute or two. Using a cooling rack helps these cookies get their slightly crispy outside. Store flat in a container for the best results. These peanut butter cookies are so soft inside, that they break apart easily if stored in a zip-top plastic bag.

This easy Crock Pot potato soup is fast, easy and delicious!

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

I love potatoes cooked in any form: baked, fried, scalloped, boiled and mashed. So it makes sense that potato soup is my favorite kind of soup. I like others, sure, but potato soup is the best.

I’ve been making this slow cooker potato soup for a few years and it quickly became a favorite in our family. My daughter, in particular, enjoys it. I love that in a matter of about five minutes, I can put ingredients in my Crock Pot at lunchtime and have dinner ready to go!

It sounds too good to be true, but thanks to the use of frozen hashbrowns, this soup comes together quickly and easily. It serves six people and can easily be doubled if your slow cooker is large enough (at least 6 quarts) and you have a crowd to feed.

I use a disposable slow cooker liner to make even clean-up easy! If you haven’t tried them, you ought to. They save a lot of time and elbow grease on so many slow cooker recipes.

Once your slow cooker is ready to go, open the back of frozen hashbrowns and dump them in. I usually use the Southern style, which are small cubes of potatoes.

Next, you add in 28 ounces of chicken broth, which you can get in two 14-ounce cans or measure out 3-1/2 cups from a box of chicken broth. I usually use low sodium, but I’ve also used regular chicken broth. It tastes fine both ways.

Along with the chicken broth, add in a can of cream of potato soup. If your grocery store is out of it, you can substitute cream of chicken soup with no issue. Top it off with some black pepper, a bit of onion powder if desired and stir.

Put the lid on, and cook it on low for five hours. I usually stir once an hour or every other hour, but it’s not all that necessary.

Around hour four, soften the cream cheese. I usually get it to the point of being almost completely melted. Stir it into the soup and continue to cook on low for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Serve it up topped with shredded cheese and bacon bits. You can add scallions or green onion if you’d like as well. We love to have a total carb fest and eat it with french bread!

If you do have leftovers, just store them in the fridge. This soup reheats incredibly well. My daughter always wants to have leftovers for lunch. My mom has frozen it before with good luck, but I’ve never had enough left that my daughter would let me think of doing that!